The Sonsorol of Palau

The Sonsorol of Palau, numbering approximately 900 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Chuukic-speaking Micronesian people of Palau's remote Sonsorol Islands, descended by tradition from canoe voyagers who drifted from Ulithi Atoll, ethnically and linguistically distinct from mainland Palauans despite shared statehood. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Palauan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Sonsorol

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Palau
People Cluster: Micronesian
Primary Language(s): Palauan (pau)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050219
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Sonsorol of Palau

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

50%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Palauan
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Palauan Speakers

Media Resources in Palauan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Palauan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
United Bible Societies✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Palauan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sonsorol are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Sonsorol:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Sonsorol of Palau

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Sonsorol Across Countries (ROP3 - 109419) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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